JP5287050B2 - Route planning method, route planning device, and autonomous mobile device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a route planning method for planning a moving route, a route planning device, and an autonomous mobile device including the route planning device.

  Conventionally, an autonomous mobile device that autonomously moves from a starting point (start position) to a destination (goal position) along a planned route is known. When planning a route that moves autonomously, for example, using an SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) technique or the like, an environment map (a map representing an area where an obstacle exists and an area where an obstacle does not exist) obtained by dividing the xy plane into a grid The movement path is generated by extracting the movable area from the environment map and connecting between the start position and the goal position given by the user along the movable area.

Here, when extracting the movable area from the environment map, the boundary of the obstacle area is expanded (expanded) by an amount corresponding to the size of the autonomous mobile device so that the size of the autonomous mobile device can be regarded as a point. ) Is used. As a method for extending the boundary of such an obstacle region, a method using a potential function is described in Patent Document 1. According to the method described in Patent Document 1, first, a potential function having a certain potential value in an obstacle region and monotonously decreasing according to the distance from the obstacle region is considered, and for each grid in the movable region, Thus, a potential field is created with the sum of the values calculated by the potential function as the potential value at that position. Next, using the potential field, a region where the potential value is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold is added as a new obstacle region to the original obstacle region. A region where the potential value is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold is set as a new movable region.
JP 7-129238 A

  Here, when the movement control of the autonomous mobile device is performed, the control cycle and the control delay cannot be made zero. Therefore, the actual behavior of the autonomous mobile device is slightly different from the intended behavior (response delay). Produce. This error becomes more prominent as the moving speed increases. Therefore, when the autonomous mobile device passes through a narrow passage (route), there is a possibility of interference with an obstacle due to the influence of this error. Therefore, in the situation where it is only known that the passing point on the route is passable, the above-described error is reduced regardless of whether the passage (route) is sufficiently wide or narrow. It was necessary to move at a slow speed.

  According to the route planning method described above, if the potential value is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that the route can be passed, and the route is planned. However, the margin of the planned route (width of the passage) is grasped in advance. There is no consideration for. That is, the route margin at the passing point on the moving route is often different for each passing point, but the route planning method described above cannot grasp in advance the route margin for each passing point on the planned moving route. It was. Therefore, in consideration of the control cycle and the control delay, it is necessary to move at a slow speed even in a place where there is room on the route, as in a place where there is no room on the route.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and is a route planning method, a route planning device, and the route planning capable of preliminarily grasping a route margin of a passing point on a planned moving route. An object is to provide an autonomous mobile device including the device.

A route planning method according to the present invention is a route planning method for planning a movement route used by an autonomous mobile device moving along a movement route before the autonomous mobile device performs autonomous movement, and an obstacle is An environment map acquisition step for acquiring an environment map showing existing obstacle areas, and the outline of the obstacle area included in the environment map acquired in the environment map acquisition step are expanded step by step to obtain a plurality of extension areas. An extended area generation step to be generated, a plurality of extended areas generated in the extended area generation step are overlapped and integrated, an integrated map generation step for generating an integrated map, and a movement from the integrated map generated in the integrated map generation step A movable area extraction step for extracting a movable area, and a movement route is planned from the movable area extracted in the movable area extraction step. Both the pass route margin information acquired at the point, the route information added in association with the route allowance information for each passing point in accordance with the accumulated value of the extended area on the integrated map passing point on the movement path belongs A route planning step to obtain .

The route planning device according to the present invention is a route planning device that plans a travel route used by an autonomous mobile device that moves along a travel route before the autonomous mobile device performs autonomous movement, An environment map acquisition means for acquiring an environment map showing an obstacle area where an object is present, and an outline of the obstacle area included in the environment map acquired by the environment map acquisition means are expanded step by step to provide a plurality of extensions. An extended area generating means for generating an area, an integrated map generating means for generating an integrated map by superimposing a plurality of extended areas generated by the extended area generating means, and an integrated map generated by the integrated map generating means The movable area extracting means for extracting the movable area from the mobile area, and planning the movement route from the movable area extracted by the movable area extracting means, and the passing point on the movement path belong to To obtain routing margin information in the passing point in accordance with the accumulated value of the extended area on that integrated map, it is provided with a path planning unit for acquiring path information added in association with the route allowance information for each passing point It is characterized by.

According to the route planning method and the route planning device according to the present invention, a plurality of extended regions generated by stepwise expanding the contour of an obstacle region are overlapped and integrated to generate an integrated map. That is, the boundary (contour) of each extended area on the integrated map is arranged according to the distance from the obstacle area. Therefore, when a movement route is planned to pass through the movable area extracted from the integrated map, the route margin of the passing point is grasped from the integrated value of the extended region on the integrated map to which the passing point on the moving route belongs. can do. Therefore, it becomes possible to grasp in advance (at the route planning stage) the route margin of the passing point on the planned moving route. Further, since the route margin can be grasped from the integrated value of the extended area to which the passing point belongs, the route margin at the passing point can be recognized with a smaller amount of calculation.

Path planning method according to the present invention, in the above Symbol extended area generation step, as well as expanding the outline of the obstacle region by the radius of the autonomous mobile apparatus further stepwise at a predetermined extension width contour of the extended obstacle area It is preferable to extend to.

The route planning device according to the present invention, the upper Symbol extended area generation means, thereby expanding the outline of the obstacle region by the radius of the autonomous mobile unit, the contour of the extended obstacle region further by a predetermined extension width It is preferable to expand in stages.

  In this case, since the outline of the obstacle area is first expanded by the radius of the own machine, when extracting the movable area, the size of the own machine is regarded as a point with respect to the expanded outline of the obstacle area. Can do. In addition, since the contour of the expanded obstacle area is further expanded with a predetermined expansion width, it is possible to grasp the route margin of the passing point on the moving route by using the expansion width as a unit and a multiple of the expansion width. It becomes possible.

  In the route planning method according to the present invention, it is preferable that the predetermined extension width is a radius of the autonomous mobile device. In the autonomous mobile device according to the present invention, it is preferable that the predetermined extension width is a radius of the autonomous mobile device.

  In this case, since the contour of the expanded obstacle area is expanded step by step by the radius of the own aircraft, it becomes possible to grasp the route margin of the passing point on the moving route by a multiple of the radius of the own aircraft. . Also, by unifying the expansion width with the radius of the own device, it is possible to reduce the calculation load of the control device.

  An autonomous mobile device according to the present invention is an autonomous mobile device that moves in a surrounding environment along a planned travel route, and includes any of the route planning devices described above.

  According to the autonomous mobile device according to the present invention, since any one of the route planning devices described above is provided, the route margin for each passing point can be grasped in advance. Therefore, for example, it is possible to set an appropriate moving speed according to the route margin of each passing point in advance for each passing point.

  According to the present invention, the outline of the obstacle area is expanded step by step to generate a plurality of extension areas, and when the movement route is planned, the passage depends on the extension region to which the passage point on the movement route belongs. Since the route margin at the point is acquired, the route margin at the passing point on the planned moving route can be grasped in advance.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, in each figure, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same element and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  First, the configuration of the route planning device 3 according to the embodiment and the autonomous mobile device 1 on which the route planning device 3 is mounted will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the autonomous mobile device 1 on which the route planning device 3 is mounted.

  The autonomous mobile device 1 obtains a surrounding environment map (a map representing an area where an obstacle exists and an area where an obstacle does not exist, hereinafter also referred to as a “global map”), a starting point (start position) and a purpose on the global map It has a function of planning a movement route connecting between the ground (goal position) and autonomously moving from the start position to the goal position along the planned route. The start position and the goal position are given by the user. Therefore, the autonomous mobile device 1 includes a laser range finder 20 that measures the distance between the main body 10 provided with the electric motor 12 and the omni wheel 13 driven by the electric motor 12 at a lower portion thereof, and obstacles existing around. And. In addition, the autonomous mobile device 1 includes a route planning device 3 that plans a moving route, and includes an electronic control device 30 that controls the electric motor 12 to move along the planned route. Hereinafter, each component will be described in detail.

  The main body 10 is, for example, a metal frame formed in a substantially bottomed cylindrical shape, and the above-described laser range finder 20 and the electronic control device 30 including the path planning device 3 are attached to the main body 10. . The shape of the main body 10 is not limited to a substantially bottomed cylindrical shape. Four electric motors 12 are arranged in a cross shape and attached to the lower portion of the main body 10. Omni wheels 13 are attached to the drive shafts 12A of the four electric motors 12, respectively. That is, the four omni wheels 13 are mounted on the same circumference at intervals of 90 ° along the circumferential direction.

  The omni wheel 13 is provided so as to be rotatable around two wheels 14 that rotate about the drive shaft 12A of the electric motor 12 and an axis that is orthogonal to the drive shaft 12A of the electric motor 12 on the outer periphery of each wheel 14. Further, the wheel has six free rollers 15 and is movable in all directions. The two wheels 14 are attached with a phase shifted by 30 °. Due to such a configuration, when the electric motor 12 is driven and the wheel 14 rotates, the six free rollers 15 rotate together with the wheel 14. On the other hand, when the grounded free roller 15 rotates, the omni wheel 13 can also move in a direction parallel to the rotation axis of the wheel 14. Therefore, the autonomous mobile device 1 is moved in any direction (all directions) by independently controlling the four electric motors 12 and individually adjusting the rotation direction and the rotation speed of the four omni wheels 13. Can do.

  An encoder 16 for detecting the rotation angle of the drive shaft 12A is attached to the drive shaft 12A of each of the four electric motors 12. Each encoder 16 is connected to the electronic control unit 30, and outputs the detected rotation angle of each electric motor 12 to the electronic control unit 30. The electronic control unit 30 calculates the movement amount of the autonomous mobile device 1 from the input rotation angle of each electric motor 12.

  The laser range finder 20 is attached to the front part of the autonomous mobile device 1 so as to face the front direction (front) of the own device. The laser range finder 20 emits a laser and reflects the emitted laser on a rotating mirror to scan the periphery of the autonomous mobile device 1 in a fan shape with a central angle of 240 ° in the horizontal direction. The laser range finder 20 detects, for example, a laser reflected and returned by an object such as a wall or an obstacle, and detects a detection angle of the laser (reflected wave) and returns after being reflected by the object. By measuring the time (propagation time) until it comes, the angle and distance from the object are detected. The laser range finder 20 is connected to the electronic control device 30, and outputs distance information and angle information with respect to the detected surrounding object to the electronic control device 30.

  The electronic control device 30 comprehensively governs the control of the autonomous mobile device 1. The electronic control unit 30 holds a microprocessor that performs calculations, a ROM that stores programs for causing the microprocessor to execute each process, a RAM that temporarily stores various data such as calculation results, and the storage contents thereof. Backup RAM or the like. The electronic control unit 30 also includes an interface circuit that electrically connects the laser range finder 20 and the microprocessor, a motor driver that drives the electric motor 12, and the like.

  The electronic control unit 30 includes a route planning device 3 for planning a moving route and acquiring a route margin for the moving route, and plans an electric motor so as to move along the planned route. 12 is controlled. The route planning device 3 constituting the electronic control device 30 plans a travel route and acquires a route margin of the travel route, in order to obtain a global map generation unit 31, an extended region generation unit 32, an integrated map generation unit 33, a movement A possible area extracting unit 34 and a route planning unit 35 are included. The electronic control device 30 also includes a sensor acquisition unit 36, an obstacle information acquisition unit 37, a travel command calculation unit 38, a host device information acquisition unit 39, and the like. Each of these units is constructed by a combination of the hardware and software described above.

  The global map generation unit 31 uses, for example, SLAM technology to generate a global map that represents an area where an obstacle exists (obstacle area) and an area where no obstacle exists. That is, the global map generation unit 31 functions as an environment map acquisition unit described in the claims. Here, the global map is a map composed of a plane obtained by dividing a horizontal plane into blocks of a predetermined size (for example, 1 cm in length and width). A grid with obstacles is given a value greater than “0”, for example. A grid with no objects is given a value less than “0”. When a global map is generated using the SLAM technology, first, the global map generation unit 31 is based on distance information and angle information with surrounding objects read from the laser range finder 20 via the sensor acquisition unit 36. Generate a local map. Further, the global map generation unit 31 acquires the self position from the own device information acquisition unit 39. The own device information acquisition unit 39 compares the local map with the global map in consideration of the movement amount of the own device calculated according to the rotation angle of each electric motor 12 read from the encoder 16, and Based on the result, self-position is estimated. Subsequently, the global map generation unit 31 performs coordinate conversion of the local map with the laser range finder 20 as the origin from the coordinate system with the laser range finder 20 as the origin to the coordinate system of the global map according to its own position. Project the local map onto the global map. Then, the global map generation unit 31 repeatedly executes this processing while moving, and generates a global map of the entire surrounding environment by sequentially adding (adding) the local map to the global map.

  The extended area generation unit 32 expands the outline of the obstacle area included in the global map generated by the global map generation unit 31 by the radius of the own device, and expands the obstacle area (hereinafter, “extended obstacle area”). And the contour of the extended obstacle region is further expanded stepwise with a predetermined expansion width to generate a plurality of extended regions. In other words, the extension area generation unit 32 functions as an extension area generation unit described in the claims. For example, a known Minkowski sum can be used to generate the extended region. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the extended obstacle region 320 is generated by expanding the outline (boundary) of the obstacle region 300 by an amount corresponding to the radius r of the autonomous mobile device 1. With this process, the size of the autonomous mobile device 1 can be regarded as a point with respect to the extended obstacle region 320. Further, the extended area generation unit 32 expands the outline of each extended obstacle area 320 by a predetermined extended width in three stages, that is, three extended areas, that is, a first extended area 321, a second extended area 322, and A third extension region 323 is generated (see FIG. 4). In the present embodiment, the radius r of the own device is used as the predetermined expansion width. That is, the extended area generation unit 32 generates the first extended area 321 by expanding the outline of the extended obstacle area 320 by an amount corresponding to the radius r of the autonomous mobile device 1, and the outline of the first extended area 321. Is expanded by an amount corresponding to the radius r to generate the second expansion region 322, and the contour of the second expansion region 322 is expanded by the radius r to generate the third expansion region 323.

  The integrated map generation unit 33 includes a plurality of expansion regions generated by the expansion region generation unit 32 (in this embodiment, an expansion obstacle region 320, a first expansion region 321, a second expansion region 322, and a third expansion region 323). Are accumulated and accumulated to generate an accumulation map. In other words, the integrated map generating unit 33 functions as an integrated map generating unit described in the claims. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, a value of “1” is set for all grids included in the extended obstacle area 320, the first extended area 321, the second extended area 322, and the third extended area 323. An accumulation map is generated by adding (weight) and accumulating the extended obstacle area 320 and the extended areas 321 to 323 in an overlapping manner. That is, in the integrated map, the integrated value (weight) of the region where the first extended region 321, the second extended region 322, and the third extended region 323 overlap is “3”. Similarly, the integrated value (weight) of an area where only the second extension area 322 and the third extension area 323 overlap (area excluding the first extension area 321 from the second extension area 322) is “2”. In addition, the value (weight) of the area of only the third extension area 323 (area excluding the second extension area 322 from the third extension area 323) is “1”. Therefore, the integrated value of each region (each grid) on the integrated map represents a value corresponding to the distance from the extended obstacle region 320 (that is, the obstacle) with the radius r of the autonomous mobile device 1 as a unit. A region (grid) with a larger integrated value is closer to an obstacle, and a region (grid) with a smaller integrated value is farther from the obstacle. Therefore, it is possible to grasp the distance (route margin) from the obstacle from the integrated value of each region (each grid) on the integrated map.

  The movable region extracting unit 34 extracts a region (movable region) that can move without contacting an obstacle from the integrated map generated by the integrated map generating unit 33. That is, the movable area extraction unit 34 functions as a movable area extraction unit described in the claims. As shown in FIG. 5, in this embodiment, an area other than the extended obstacle area 320 (an area excluding the shaded area in FIG. 5) is extracted as a movable area 340 on the integration map. In addition, the movable area extraction unit 34 performs a thinning process on the extracted movable area 340. The thinning process of the movable region 340 can be performed using, for example, a known Hilitch thinning method. That is, the movable area extracting unit 34 performs thinning by scraping the movable area 340 pixel by pixel from the extended obstacle area 320 until the movable area 340 becomes a line. Therefore, the linear movable region 341 obtained by thinning represents a movable region farthest from an obstacle present around.

  The route planning unit 35 plans a moving route by searching for the shortest route connecting the start position and the goal position from the thinned movable region 341 extracted by the movable region extracting unit 34. In addition, the route planning unit 35 obtains a route margin in the subgoal from the extended areas 321 to 323 on the integrated map to which the passing points on the planned moving route (hereinafter also referred to as “subgoals”) belong. In other words, the route planning unit 35 functions as route planning means described in the claims. More specifically, first, the route planning unit 35 executes a node search of the thinned movable area 341. That is, all the nodes 342 are searched and expressed as a node map as shown in FIG. Here, a branch point (or connection point) of the thinned movable area 341 is a node 342, and a thin movable area 341 connecting the node 342 and the node 342 is a link 343.

  Next, the route planning unit 35 performs a shortest route search using a search algorithm such as a known A * algorithm (A star algorithm) to determine a moving route. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the route planning unit 35 uses the start position 351 and the goal position 352 as the base points, and uses, for example, an A * algorithm to pass through which node 342 and which link 343 are minimum. The route 350 is determined by calculating whether the cost (shortest route) is reached. Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the route planning unit 35 determines which extension region 321 to 323 the subgoal 360 on the determined route 350 belongs (or does not belong to the extension regions 321 to 323). Route margin information for each subgoal 360 is acquired. Here, the integrated value (for example, “1”, “2”, “3”) of each extended region on the above-described integration map can be used as the route margin information. Then, the route planning unit 35 adds the obtained route margin information of each subgoal 360 to the route information represented by the subgoal point sequence (coordinate sequence) in association with each subgoal 360. In this way, route information to which route margin information is added is acquired. When the autonomous mobile device 1 moves along the movement route 350, the coordinates of the subgoal that becomes the next target passage position with respect to the self position and the route margin information in the subgoal are read, so that The movement of the machine is controlled.

  Next, the operation of the route planning apparatus 3 and the route planning method will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of route planning processing by the route planning device 3. The route planning process shown in FIG. 2 is performed by the route planning device 3 (electronic control device 30), and is executed, for example, in response to a user instruction operation before autonomous movement.

  First, in step S100, a global map is generated based on distance information, angle information, and the like with surrounding objects read from the laser range finder 20. Since the global map generation method is as described above, detailed description thereof is omitted here. Next, in step S102, first, for each obstacle region 300 included in the global map, the outline is expanded by the radius r of the own device to generate an extended obstacle region 320. In step S102, the extended obstacle area 320 is further expanded in three stages by a predetermined expansion width (in the present embodiment, the radius r of the own device), and three expansion areas, that is, a first expansion area 321 and a second expansion area. An area 322 and a third extended area 323 are generated (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

  In the subsequent step S104, the extended obstacle region 320, the first extended region 321, the second extended region 322, and the third extended region 323 generated in step S102 are overlapped and integrated to generate an integrated map (FIG. 4). Subsequently, in step S106, the area excluding the extended obstacle area 320 is extracted from the integrated map generated in step S104 as a movable area 340 that can move without contacting the obstacle (FIG. 5). reference). Next, in step S108, the extracted movable area 340 is thinned. Since the thinning process for the movable area 340 is as described above, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  In the subsequent step S110, a node search for the thinned movable region 341 is performed (see FIG. 6). Subsequently, in step S112, using the start position and the goal position as a base point, for example, using the A * algorithm, it is calculated which node 342 and which link 343 on the integration map pass the minimum cost (shortest path). The path 350 is determined (see FIG. 7).

  In subsequent step S114, the route margin information for each subgoal 360 is acquired depending on which extension region 321 to 323 the subgoal 360 on the determined route 350 belongs to (or does not belong to the extension regions 321 to 323) ( (See FIG. 8). Then, the obtained route margin information of each subgoal 360 is added to the route information represented by the subgoal point sequence (coordinate sequence) in association with each subgoal 360, whereby the route margin information is added. Information is acquired. Then, when the autonomous mobile device 1 moves along the movement route 350 acquired in this manner, for example, the route with the weight “1” (in FIG. 8) compared to the speed passing through the route with the weight “0”. The electronic control device 30 controls the traveling speed of the autonomous mobile device 1 so that the speed of passing through the section indicated by the very thick line of FIG. In the above-described example, the travel route 350 does not pass through the region with the weight “2”. However, when the travel route 350 passes through the region with the weight “2”, the traveling speed is set higher than the region with the weight “1”. Can also be slowed down. Further, when passing through the region of weight “3”, control may be performed so as to deviate from the movement route 350.

  According to the present embodiment, the extended obstacle region 320 and the three extended regions 321 to 323 generated by stepwise expanding the contour of the obstacle region 300 are overlapped and integrated to generate an integrated map. Is done. Therefore, the boundaries of the extended areas 321 to 323 on the integrated map are arranged according to the distance from the extended obstacle area 320 (that is, the obstacle). Therefore, when the movement route 350 is planned, the route margin of the subgoal 360 can be grasped from the integrated values of the extended areas 321 to 323 to which the subgoal 360 on the movement route 350 belongs. Therefore, it becomes possible to grasp in advance (at the route planning stage) the route margin of the subgoal 360 on the planned moving route 350. Further, according to the present embodiment, since the route margin can be grasped from the integrated value of the extended areas 321 to 323 to which the subgoal 360 belongs, the route margin of the subgoal 360 can be recognized with a smaller amount of calculation. .

  According to the present embodiment, since the contour of the obstacle region 300 is first expanded by the radius r of the own aircraft, when the movable region 340 is extracted, the expanded obstacle region 300 (expanded obstacle region 320) is extracted. ) Can be regarded as a point. Further, since the contour of the extended obstacle region 320 is further expanded by a predetermined expansion width (in this embodiment, the radius r of the own device), the route margin of the passing point on the moving route is defined in units of the expansion width. It is possible to grasp by a multiple of the expansion width. In the present embodiment, by using the radius r of the own device as the predetermined expansion width, the expansion width is unified to the same value, so that the calculation load of the electronic control device 30 can be reduced.

  According to the autonomous mobile device 1 according to the present embodiment, since the route planning device 3 described above is provided, the route margin for each subgoal 360 can be grasped in advance. Therefore, for example, an appropriate moving speed and obstacle avoidance speed according to the path margin of each subgoal 360 can be set in advance for each subgoal 360.

  Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the expansion width when expanding the extended obstacle region 320 is the radius r of the own device, but this expansion width is not limited to the radius r of the own device and can be arbitrarily set. it can. Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the expansion obstruction area | region 320 was expanded to three steps, you may expand to two steps or four steps or more. Furthermore, the values (weights) given to the grids constituting the expansion areas 321 to 323 when integrating the expansion areas 321 to 323 are not limited to “1”, and any value can be set.

  In the above embodiment, the A * algorithm is used for the shortest path search, but other algorithms such as Dijkstra method and best priority search may be used.

  In the above embodiment, the global map is generated using the SLAM technology. However, the global map may be generated using a method other than the SLAM. In addition, the global map may be created from the architectural drawing, and further, a global map generated by another device may be ported to the own device. In addition, the distance to the obstacle is measured using the laser range finder 20 when generating the global map. However, instead of or in addition to the laser range finder, for example, a stereo camera, an ultrasonic sensor, or the like may be used. .

  In the said embodiment, although the omni wheel 13 which can move to all directions was employ | adopted as a wheel, it is good also as a structure which uses a normal wheel (a steering wheel and a drive wheel).

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the autonomous mobile apparatus by which the route planning apparatus which concerns on embodiment is mounted. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the route planning process by the route planning apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the expansion method (Minkowski sum calculation) of an obstruction area | region. It is a figure for demonstrating the production | generation method of an integrating | accumulating map. It is a figure for demonstrating the extraction method and thinning method of a movable area | region. It is a figure for demonstrating the search method of a node. It is a figure for demonstrating the search method of the shortest path | route. It is a figure for demonstrating the acquisition method of a route margin.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Autonomous mobile device 3 Path planning device 10 Main body 12 Electric motor 13 Omni wheel 14 Wheel 15 Free roller 16 Encoder 20 Laser range finder 30 Electronic control device 31 Global map generation part 32 Expansion area generation part 33 Accumulation map generation part 34 Movable area Extraction unit 35 Path planning unit

Claims (7)

A route planning method for planning a movement route used by an autonomous mobile device moving along a movement route before the autonomous mobile device performs autonomous movement,
An environmental map acquisition step of acquiring an environmental map showing an obstacle area where the obstacle exists;
An extended area generating step for generating a plurality of extended areas by gradually expanding the contour of the obstacle area included in the environmental map acquired in the environmental map acquiring step;
An integrated map generating step of generating an integrated map by superimposing and integrating the plurality of extended areas generated in the extended area generating step;
A movable area extracting step of extracting a movable area from the integrated map generated in the integrated map generating step;
Plan the travel route from the movable region extracted in the movable region extraction step, and the route margin information at the passing point according to the integrated value of the extended region on the integrated map to which the passing point on the moving route belongs And a route planning step of acquiring route information in which the route margin information is added in association with each passing point . Prior Symbol extended area generation step, as well as expanding the outline of the obstacle region by the radius of the autonomous mobile equipment, and characterized in that the extended stepwise in an expanded obstacle further predetermined extension width contour of the area The route planning method according to claim 1.   The route planning method according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined extension width is a radius of the autonomous mobile device. A route planning device that plans a travel route used by an autonomous mobile device that moves along a travel route before the autonomous mobile device performs autonomous movement,
An environmental map acquisition means for acquiring an environmental map showing an obstacle area where the obstacle exists;
Extended area generating means for expanding the outline of the obstacle area included in the environmental map acquired by the environmental map acquiring means stepwise to generate a plurality of extended areas;
An integrated map generating means for generating an integrated map by superimposing and integrating the plurality of extended areas generated by the extended area generating means;
Movable area extracting means for extracting a movable area from the accumulated map generated by the accumulated map generating means;
Plan the travel route from the movable region extracted by the movable region extraction means, and the route margin information at the passing point according to the integrated value of the extended region on the integrated map to which the passing point on the moving route belongs And route planning means for acquiring route information obtained by associating and adding the route margin information in association with each passing point . Before Symbol extended area generation means is configured to extend the contour of the obstacle region by the radius of the autonomous mobile equipment, and characterized in that the extended stepwise in an expanded obstacle further predetermined extension width contour of the area The route planning device according to claim 4.   The route planning device according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined extension width is a radius of the autonomous mobile device. An autonomous mobile device that moves in a surrounding environment along a planned movement route,
An autonomous mobile device comprising the route planning device according to claim 4.

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